1. The Field of the Present Disclosure.
The present disclosure relates generally to knee joint prosthesis and more particularly to a revision tibial implant and method of utilizing and implanting the same.
2. Description of Related Art.
Conventionally a knee joint prosthesis can include a femoral implant and a tibial implant. The femoral implant and tibial implant are designed to be surgically implanted into the distal end of the femur and the proximal end of the tibia, respectively. The femoral implant is further designed to cooperate with the tibial implant in simulating the articulating motion of an anatomical knee joint.
These femoral and tibial implants, in combination with ligaments and muscles, attempt to duplicate natural knee motion as well as absorb and control forces generated during the range of flexion. In some instances however, it may be necessary to replace or modify an existing femoral and/or tibial implant. Such replacements are generally referred to as revision implants. It may be necessary for a revision implant to eliminate one or more motions, thereby increasing the level of restraint, in order to provide adequate stability. In this way, it may be desirable to provide a cruciate retaining (CR) revision knee, a fully constrained revision knee, a posterior stabilized (PS) revision knee or a hinged revision knee for example.
There are also circumstances when a fixed bearing implant must be changed out for a mobile bearing implant. While this change is possible, it can create added damage and deterioration of the remaining tibial bone due to the need to remove the tibial implant to replace it. Therefore, there is a need to enable a surgeon to change or modify an existing implant from a fixed bearing to a mobile bearing (or vice versa), without removing the tibial implant from the tibial bone, thus saving the integrity of the surrounding tibial bone.
The features and advantages of the present disclosure will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by the practice of the present disclosure without undue experimentation. The features and advantages of the present disclosure may be realized and obtained by means of the instruments and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.